British folk rock trio (and sisters) The Staves recently toured Europe with a Harman’s Soundcraft Si Performer 2 digital console and AKG C5 microphones.
Noted for their harmonies, the three sisters released their debut album, Dead & Born & Grown, in late 2012 and have grown in popularity throughout the world since that time.
The delicate balance of harmonies led to the group’s current use of the C5 microphones. “We’ve got quite different-sounding voices and the AKG microphones easily handle our variety of tones and singing styles,” says guitarist/vocalist Jessica Staveley-Taylor. “We don’t have to think about the microphones at all, we can just think about singing.”
Simon Alpin, who handled front of house mixing duties for The Staves on tour, adds, “After using the AKG C5 vocal microphones, I would recommend them for people with softer voices, as they really pull out the definition in the voice, giving live shows a recording studio vocal clarity,” states “They really cover all aspects of The Staves’ vocal range tonally.”
“I also found the definition in the high end less sibilant than most other condenser microphones, without having to EQ much at all,” he adds. “In a live situation this is imperative, with time restraints for sound check.”
Alpin performed his mixes on a Soundcraft Si Performer 2 digital console at front of house. “The Si Performer 2 I am using on The Staves’ European tour is very user-friendly,” he notes. “After only having spent an hour running through the essential setup configuration with Ed Jackson of HARMAN, I found the desk to be very reliable. Even when the Cat5 cable came out of the back of the desk while someone was moving something during sound check, I reconnected it immediately without having to restart the desk.”
The Si Performer 2 delivers the equivalent of 448 rack units of DSP including sophisticated 4-band fully parametric EQ, full dynamics processing, a comprehensive range of output options, and totally flexible routing.
“I would recommend the Si Performer to anyone who is thinking of moving from analog to digital,” Alpin concludes. “The patching is very straightforward, the reverbs sound great and it’s very easy to load and change parameters.”